Washington is the ‘real’ Mayberry

TO THE EDITOR:

I’m the lady who got stranded in Washington-Wilkes with car trouble on Saturday, October 8.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the citizens of your town who expressed concern, tried to help, and did help a very frustrated lady. I was returning from a week’s vacation at Myrtle Beach. You know the old saying, “It’s good to get away but even better to get back home.”

So that Saturday I was ready to go home when warning lights popped up on my dashboard. I took the first exit I came to off I-20 which led me to Washington. Finding no auto repair shop open, I pulled in to the Petro store on Robert Toombs Avenue.

There the kindnesses and caring began. Several guys tried calling mechanics they knew, but to no avail. Someone did locate Mr. Hulin who came over and at least analyzed problem and also went to “Bumper to Bumper” to see if they had the parts in stock and got a quote for me.

A policeman had arrived and was trying to call every mechanic he knew and at last found Freddie Rhodes who agreed to come over and see if he could repair my car. The sheriff was out cruising to see if he could find someone, and another policeman was on the scene to offer his help.

The first policeman went to “Bumper to Bumper” and got the parts for me so that when Freddie arrived he could get started. Freddie tried his best, but the fact was that my car needed to go to the shop.

So, the second policeman took me to the Jameson Inn (my first ride in a police car.) James, the night manager, suggested that I call a cousin of his at Ansley Garage to tow my car. Mr. and Mrs. Ansley arrived, took me to my car to get a few TO THE EDITOR:

A special thank-you should go to Gloria Wheatley, WashingtonWilkes Humane Shelter Director, and others.

Due to Mrs. Wheatley’s working with the University of Georgia School of Veterinary Medicine in Athens, they have spayed and neutered 64 of our shelter dogs and 32 cats. Rescue groups she works with have taken 14 dogs and 10 cats for approved homes, all this month.

It has taken time and hard work to develop the network she has established and this has saved the lives of many shelter animals.

Our Georgia State Inspector says that due to Gloria we have the best shelter in 14 counties. We owe her our heartfelt thanks and we also owe many thanks to the volunteers who work to socialize the dogs. And we also owe thanks to the fundraisers and those who help with adoption events.

The News-Reporter has also been a part of this program of excellence. Publishing “Pet of the Week” photos has done much for our overall efforts. Bluebell, the dear little toy fox terrier that had been a shelter resident for a year or more, now has an excellent home. There have been many like this.

The quality of care provided for our animals would not be possible without the town’s generous support. The lives of our local pets and other animals are truly in our hands.

We welcome new members and those who renew their membership.

ALICE GREEN things, towed my car to Standard Auto Repair, and even agreed to put my fresh iced-down shrimp in their freezer until Monday. (Another first for me – riding in a tow truck.)

My car was ready at 9:30 Monday morning. Ginger Standard picked me up at the Jameson Inn and took me back to Standard where I paid my bill. I stopped by Ansley’s to pick up the shrimp and headed home. I got back to Duluth around noon – grateful for my return but even more thankful for all the kind people in Washington.

My thanks to all of you – but a very special thanks to Linda, the store manager at Petro who made many calls on my behalf, let me use her cell phone to call home, offered me coffee and comfort, and assured me that if it was time to close the store, she would not leave me alone. So even frustrated, I never felt afraid. She is a very special lady and my newest friend.

Several co-workers said, “It’s like you were in Mayberry.” My reply was, “Yes, it was, except that Mayberry is fictitious and Washington is real.”

You folks helped renew my faith in the kindness of mankind. There are a lot of good people in this world and many of them are right there in Washington.

MARGE LEE

Duluth, Georgia

Generous support provides quality care for animals Population explosion of hunters overestimated, inaccurate at 10k TO THE EDITOR:

After two consecutive years of reading about how the population of Wilkes County doubles during hunting season as quoted by Donna Hardy, I felt compelled to tell the rest of the story!

While I am a big fan of the hunters contributing to the economic health of Wilkes County, I have a real problem with the figure of 10,000 hunters being here on opening week. Let’s take a look at some statistical data that is provided by Georgia DNR matched up with the land use data provided by the annual county guide that is published by UGA.

DNR says that there were 289,703 hunters for the 2003-2004 hunting season. These hunters actually hunted an average of 18 days during the gun season. There are 159 counties in Georgia but four do not allow hunting leaving 155 that do. If we divide this figure equally, that give us 1,869 hunters per county. If we double this, allowing for a family member traveling with the hunter, that still only gives us 3,800 people in round numbers. Now, let us match that with the available acres in the county. The county guide says that there are roughly 233,000 acres in the county. This reader has seen documentation that puts that figure closer to 301,000 acres. For the sake of argument, let’s use the higher figure. If we subtract the 8,000 acres of municipal land, the 3,000 acres of water and the roughly five acres/rural landowner times the 6,000 rural residents which equals 30,000 acres, this gives us a total usable acres of 301,000 41,000 = 260,000 acres. Now if we divide the 260,000 acres by the 1,900 hunters, we get 136 acres per hunter. If we follow the recommended protocol for acres per hunter, this matches up pretty good with the 1,900 hunters.

While there is no doubt that hunters and their families provide a good economic boost to the county, the statistics do not support the false use of the 10,000 hunters in the county. So, for the purpose of accuracy and truth in reporting, please stop using this figure. In addition to the statistical data, the retail sales, hotel occupancy, license sales and number of shots heard on opening day do not bear it out.

JOSEPH M. RILEY